


My Golden-Eyed Eren

by motivational_sleeper



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 16:12:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3256247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motivational_sleeper/pseuds/motivational_sleeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi babysits Eren for two years until Grisha and Carla kick him out of their house without a reason, preventing him from seeing Eren for nine years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Golden-Eyed Eren

**Author's Note:**

> In case it wasn't clear from the archive warning, there is no smut in this fic! Please don't read if that's what you're looking for. Besides that, enjoy!

_Levi: 8, Eren: 3_

“We’ll be back around 7 o’clock; Eren should nap until then. You’ll do fine.”

With that Eren’s parents close the door, leaving me alone with a sleeping three year old. I stay stationary for a minute trying to take in the situation, isn’t babysitting a girl’s job? It was only earlier this morning my parents had told me to babysit, they didn’t even asked if I wanted to. I mean my parents are friends with the Yeager’s but I’m not friends with them, why should I have to babysit? Sigh. I guess I’m stuck here for the next two hours.

I make my way into the living room wanting to sit down on the couch and watch some TV. However, that plan doesn’t last long once I find the small child curled up in the fetal position on one end. I could sit on the other end, he’s not very big, but I worry the change in pressure might wake him. The last thing I need is to have to entertain this brat.

I opt to sit in the armchair directly across from the couch instead. Looking around I notice there isn’t even a TV in this room, what am I supposed to do for two hours?

My eyes fall to the child lying across the room from me. I haven’t even met Eren before; yeah I’ve been over to the Yeager’s for dinner but he’s either been napping or at someone else’s house. Eren’s body is so small; I wonder if I was that small when I was his age, it’s kind of hard to imagine. He has his thumb jammed in his mouth; why haven’t his parents broken him of that habit yet? It’s disgusting; God only knows where his hands have been. His hair is a rich brown color, almost exactly matching the sofa, and is sticking up all over the place, probably from rolling around in his sleep. Eren’s lashes are extremely full, making a black edge on his eyelids.

As I examine his features, Eren stirs. His legs stretch out as he pulls his thumb from his mouth. Eren makes a groggy, half-awake sound as he pushes up off the couch with one hand. The other hand goes to his right eye where he tries to rub the sleep away. His left eye flickers a few times before fully opening to reveal a beautifully golden yellow iris.

Eren’s eye immediately focuses on me, glimmering with excitement. He removes his hand from his other eye to focus completely on me. “Hi! I’m Eren, what’s your name?” Eren holds his tiny hand out for me to shake.

Throwing the kid a half-lidded stare, I push up from my chair to go shake his hand. “Didn’t your parents ever warn you about strangers?”

He giggles at my question like the answer was obvious. “Of course! But you’re not a stranger, you’re in my house.” I lower my eyebrows; that’s toddler logic. I’m in his home so I must be safe. “Hi, I’m Eren. What’s your name?” He repeats his earlier statement.

“Levi.” I glance at the clock over the fireplace, I’ve only been here for forty-five minutes. So much for ‘he’ll sleep the whole time’.

“Levi.” Eren giggles again. “Levi.” More giggles.

Why does he keep saying my name? “Why are you doing that?” I snap at him.

My frustration stops his giggling but doesn’t keep him from smiling. “I just like how it sounds that’s all.” I can see Eren suppressing a giggle as his innocent eyes wander over my features.

“What are you looking at?”

“You!” Obviously. “You’re so pretty!”

“I’m a boy Eren. Boys aren’t pretty, girls are.” This child’s wearing on my patience.

“Well I think you’re prettier than any girl I’ve ever seen.” He pauses. “Hey, what’s my name?”

Is this kid really that stupid? “Eren.”

Giggle. “What is it again?”

“Eren.” Another giggle. “Okay, what are you doing?”

“I like how my name sounds when you say it.” I look at the clock again, only five minutes have passed since the last time I checked. “I’m hungry. Can we make some food?”

Sigh. “I guess so.” Reluctantly I get up from the chair and head to the kitchen, little Eren trailing behind me. I open the first cabinet I see to find box upon box of cereal. “Eren, do you want cereal?” Turning around to look at Eren, I find he isn’t standing behind me. Of course I freak, thinking I already lost him, and whip back around to the cabinets to find him standing on the counter.

“I don’t want cereal.”

“Are you allowed to be on the counter?” I ask monotone, trying to hide the panic attack I just had.

Eren looks at his toes and sheepishly grins. “No.”

I grab him under the arms and lower him to the floor. “It would be bad if your mom and dad found out you were up there.”

“Don’t tell them!” He shouts at me. “They might not let you watch me anymore if they found out.”

Eren’s actually a pretty smart kid, able to figure out that his parents might think I can’t control him. Wait! I might not have to watch him again if his parents don’t like how I act with him. “You know what? You can stand on the counter.” Delicately picking Eren back up, I set him on the counter.

“But…” He starts, tears beginning to well up.

“It’s okay. I won’t tell them you’re up here.” I reassure him. “Now, what do you want to eat?”

“What does Levi want? We can share it!”

“Do you like brownies?” Brownies for dinner; that should get me in trouble.

“For dinner?”

“Why not? It’s what I want so let’s do it.”

Eren takes off waddling down the counter before stopping in front of another cabinet. He opens it and removes a box of brownie mix then returns to me. “It says here we need milk and eggs. Do you know where those are?” I ask, knowing full well where they are.

Eren lifts his arms and stares at me. “Up.” I sigh before grabbing him under the arms again and setting him on the floor. He heads over to the fridge and opens the door, then steps up on the lowest drawer to reach the milk and eggs.

“We only need two eggs.” I inform him when he tries to drag the whole carton out of the fridge. Eren returns to me with two eggs wrapped in his shirt and an individual carton of milk.

I sit Eren on the counter while I mix the batter and put the brownies in the oven. “Twenty minutes and they’ll be ready. What do you want to do until then?”

“Dress up!” He runs off into another room so I follow him. I turn the corner to find Eren standing in his underwear with his hands on his hips, staring at a pile of clothes on the floor. “Don’t look!” Eren shouts at me when I enter the room. “Wait outside the door.” I step outside and place my back against the wall as I slide down it into a sitting position.

After five minutes and a lot of humming I hear Eren say, “Close your eyes.” I do. Eren must be close to me because I can feel his breath on my face. Something heavy is placed delicately on my head and Eren tells me I can open my eyes.

He stands before me grinning ear to ear in a puffy purple dress, I reach up to touch my head only to discover a crown resting there. “You’re the prince and I’m your princess.”

“Shouldn’t you be a prince too?” I ask.

Eren looks down and runs his hands across the lace on his dress. “I wanted to be the princess though. I want to be as pretty as Levi.”

“Stop saying I’m pretty Eren! I’m not pretty, I’m a boy.” My anger gets the best of me. I rip the crown off my head and slam it to the ground before storming off to the kitchen to turn off the alarm on the oven. After slamming the brownie pan down on the stove, the kitchen goes silent and I hear tiny wails coming from the other room.

I follow the sound back to where I left Eren. The only difference being, instead of standing, he’s crumpled to his knees and has his head tipped back crying as hard as he can. Rushing over to where he sits, I squat down in front of him. “Eren. Stop crying.” He just shakes his head and continues to cry. “Why are you upset?”

“‘Cause Levi doesn’t like me.” His crying breaks long enough to choke those words out then he’s back to bawling.

Shit, he needs to stop crying. I glance around the floor to find the crown I’d thrown then place it on my head. Reaching out for Eren, I run my thumb along his cheek to wipe away some of the tears. His eyes snap open immediately; they’re red around the edges which only brightens his gold eyes even more. Eren’s sadness shows on his face but quickly fades upon glancing up to see the crown on my head. “Are we done crying now?”

Eren nods and begins wiping his tears off with the backs of his hands. I don’t know what possessed me to do what I did but I reach for Eren and grab him under the arms before hoisting him up onto my hip. There’s a tiny gasp from my right side before Eren’s tiny arms wrap around my neck and he nuzzles into my shoulder.

Thirty minutes later, Eren’s parents come home to find me in a crown still carrying Eren in his princess dress. Eren had fallen asleep a few minutes ago but I couldn’t put him down for fear of waking him. “I take it everything went well.” Mrs. Yeager asks.

“Eren woke up forty-five minutes after you left.” Her eyes flicker to the small child resting on my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry dear, I hope he wasn’t too much of a burden.”

“No, he was fine.” I lie. “Umm, can I ask you something?”

“Sure sweetie, anything.”

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” She looks like I just slapped her. “I mean, they’re such an unusual color. I’ve never seen anyone with yellow eyes before.”

“They are unusual, aren’t they? But they’re quite beautiful too. I think he’ll be very popular with the girls when he gets older.” My eyes fall from Mrs. Yeager to rest on Eren’s sleeping face. “Thank you for watching him tonight. I can take him now.”

Eren’s removed from my arms and shifted to sit on Mrs. Yeager’s hip. His eyes flicker open the second he leaves me. “L-Levi.”

“Levi’s got to get home Eren. He can’t stay here all night.”

“Can Levi watch me again?”

“We’ll see.” Mrs. Yeager looks back to me. “Thanks again for watching him. Have a nice night.” I follow her to the door and step out onto the porch.

“Oh! We made brownies, there’s a pan in there on the stove. We never got around to eating any of them, so they’re all still there.” She nods and starts to shut the door. “And he never got any dinner. He might still be hungry.”

“Thank you.” Without waiting for a response she shuts the door leaving me outside in the dark.

 

_Levi: 10, Eren: 5_

“Eren’s sick; he came down with a fever this morning. I’ll understand if you don’t want to take care of him tonight.” Mrs. Yeager tells me at the front door.

“Levi!” My name is happily shrieked from the other room.

Sigh. “No, I don’t mind watching him. Besides he’ll probably just cry if I leave now.”

“As long as you’re sure.” I nod. “He’s in there on the couch. There’s Nyquil on the kitchen counter if he gets to feeling really bad.”

“Alright.” I step past her into the house only to run into Mr. Yeager.

“Take care of our son.” I solemnly nod; something about that guy creeps me out. This is the first time I’ve ever heard him talk and I’ve been over for dinner before.

Eren’s parents make their way out of the house and I’m greeted by another cry from the living room. “Stop screaming. I’m coming.” Entering the living room, I find Eren curled up in the same spot I found him the first time I babysat. “How you feeling?”

“Better now that Levi’s here.”

“Why do you always insist _I_ babysit you?” I ask, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch.

“Why do I want Levi to babysit?”

“Your mom told me you cry if she tries to get anyone else to babysit you. So I’m asking, why me? Why am I special?”

Eren pulls himself into a sitting position on the couch so he’s on my eye level. He curls one hand into a fist and places it over his heart. “Because I love Levi.”

“You don’t love me Eren. You love your parents and family. Not your babysitter.”

He just shrugs off my comment like it doesn’t mean anything to him. “You cut your hair. It looks so good!” Eren erupts in a volcano of giggles as he stretches his arms out to touch my hair. Normally I don’t let anyone touch my hair but I just got it cut and people at school were making fun of me for it. I left the top long, a little past my ears, and shaved the underside; it’s nice to hear someone likes it. “Can I braid it?”

“It’s too short to braid.” I barely finish my sentence before Eren gets off the couch and crawls onto me. He makes his way to my back and sits on my shoulders. “What are you doing?” I snap.

“Braiding.” I can feel his tiny hands working their way through my hair. “Let’s go upstairs; Mommy has hair ties in her bathroom.”

Sigh. He’s not going to let the braiding thing go. I grab his feet to steady him on my shoulders and make my way upstairs. It isn’t long before I find the hair ties, though I do feel a little bad about going through Mrs. Yeager’s bathroom, and Eren begins placing them in my hair.

“You better not make me look stupid.” I warn him.

“I won’t. I’ll make you prettier.”

I throw a glare over my shoulder. “Eren we talked about that.”

“Shh. Almost done.” His fingers fidget with the last chunk of hair. Once the hair tie is on, Eren climbs off me and takes a step back on the couch. “Done. Go look.”

With a sigh I push up off the couch and head toward the bathroom. There’s what looks like a thousand braids sticking off my head at random angles. I have no idea how he accomplished this much in such little time; and the braids are actually really well done. “What do you think?” Eren asks me.

“I look so…” Glancing down I see an overly-eager Eren staring up at me with shimmering eyes. I can’t tell him I look ridiculous; he would probably cry again. Sigh. “So pretty.”

I’m almost deafened by Eren’s screams of happiness. I pick him up under the arms and run back to the living room; working off Eren’s energy I spin us in a circle. His arms stretch out toward me and he erupts in a world of giggles. This kid gets to me; I find myself acting different around him, in a way that I would never act around any of my classmates. I’m actually enjoying myself; I tip my head back and laugh with him.

“Levi…” Eren’s surprise is cut off by a racking cough. I completely forgot he was sick, over-exertion is only going to make things worse. Lowering Eren to the couch he tries to talk, “No…keep spinning…I’m fine.”

“No you’re not Eren, you’re wheezing.” Another round of coughing shakes Eren’s body. “There’s Nyquil in the kitchen, let me get it for you.” I start to move away from him but his tiny hand reaches out and grabs hold of my shirt sleeve.

“I don’t like that medicine. It makes me tired.”

“I’m sorry Eren it’s the only thing I have that’ll make the coughing go away. It’ll be alright I swear.” I manage to shake Eren off my sleeve and return with the medicine. He looks like he’s about ready to cry. “Shh, it’s going to make you feel better.”

“I’m scared.” He’s barely able to say the words so they come out as a whimper.

“Eren do you trust me?” His gaze moves from the bottle in my hand up to meet my eyes before he nods. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” I pour a lid-full of the cherry flavored liquid and hand it to him.

“I know.” Eren sniffles once more before tipping the cap back and drinking it all. He hands the lid back to me avoiding my eyes.

“Eren, don’t look so sad. It’ll make you tired but you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

“Will Levi be here when I wake up?” I glance at the bottle, it say people usually sleep for three hours.

“Of course.” I lie. “Now come here and stop looking so sad.” Picking him up off the couch, I take his spot and stretch out until I’m lying on my back and Eren is sitting on my chest.

“What are you doing?” He asks, cocking his head to the side.

“You’re scared to fall asleep so I’ll lay here with you until you do.” Eren gives a drowsy smile before lowering himself to lay on him stomach. I lift a hand and rub his back soothingly until he falls asleep.

At some point I must have fallen asleep because I’m awoken by Mrs. Yeager’s voice. “I see you used the Nyquil.” I crane my neck to look up at her not wanting to move too much as not to disturb Eren.

“Why are you sleeping with my son?” Mr. Yeager’s voice echoes out from behind his wife with a hint of anger in it.

“Eren was scared of taking the medicine so I laid here until he fell asleep; I guess I must have fallen asleep too.” I really don’t like this man.

“Well he’s asleep now and we can take it from here. Thank you for watching our son, you know where the door is.”

I glare at the man whose now towering over me then turn my eyes down to Eren; he’s sound asleep with my hand tangled in his hair, I don’t remember putting it there but I don’t make any motions to move it either. “I kind of promised him I would be here when he woke up.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s going to happen. It’s really late, you have school tomorrow and I don’t think he’s going to wake up anytime soon.” His tone is final but I fight it anyway.

“He’s only going to cry if he wakes up and I’m not here.”

“I can assure you we are more than capable of dealing with our son, we don’t need some weird teenager coming in here and telling us that he knows him better than we do.”

“I wasn’t saying that I know him better! You know as well as I do that he’ll only be upset if I’m not here after I promised him I would be!”

“Why is our son so attached to you anyway?” Mr. Yeager asks, eyes narrowing.

My mind flickers back to Eren saying he loved me earlier. “I have no idea. He’s your son, you tell me.”

Wrong answer. “Okay that’s enough. Get out of my house you freak.” I blink in confusion a few times as Mrs. Yeager lifts Eren off of me and Mr. Yeager grabs my arm, pulling me toward the front door. “Have a nice night.” His words are dripping with sarcasm as the door is slammed in my face leaving me to wonder what the fuck I did wrong.

 

_Levi: 19, Eren: 14_

It’s been nine years since the night Eren’s father called me a freak and kicked me out of his house. I never found out what that was about and I haven’t seen Eren at all in that span of time; it’s weird but I can’t help but miss the kid. He should be in high school now.

I think about him and that whole situation more than I’d like to admit. My phone vibrates in my pocket pulling me out of my train of thought. “Hello?”

“Oh you answered! Your parents gave me your number, they said you still lived close by.” There’s a pause on the other end. “Hello?”

“Who is this?” It’s a woman’s voice but I can’t peg it.

“I’m sorry, silly me. I’m so flustered. Hi, umm…yes its Mrs. Yeager.”

“Oh, surprising hearing from you.” I say, purposely keeping all surprise out of my voice.

“Yeah, so how have you been doing Levi?”

“I’ve been doing real well since your husband kicked me out of your house, called me a freak and refused to let me babysit Eren again. So tell me, how much did he resent you for that?” Spite and anger find their way into my tone.

“You have every right to be upset but you have to understand that we we’re just trying to protect our son.”

“You say ‘we we’re just trying’ meaning you were a part of that decision, that’s funny because over the years I always assumed Grisha was acting on his own. Good to know that you hated me just as much as he did. That doesn’t matter though, what do you mean you were trying to protect him? Protect him from what?”

“Levi.” She lets out a soft sigh. “We had our suspicions about you and then the last time you babysat Eren we found you curled up with your arms around him. Imagine how that looked to us.”

How can she even suggest my intentions were malicious? “You’re both sick people and I pity Eren for having to live with your intolerable personalities.” I practically spit the words into the phone.

“Grisha and I just recently divorced leaving me with full custody of Eren.” She admits quietly.

“Great, maybe now Eren has a chance of being who he is instead of you two eventually molding him into what you want him to be. Anyway it’s been real nice talking to you Carla but I have better things to do with my life like studying or sticking hot coals in my eyes.”

“Wait! Levi there was a point behind me calling you. I realize that I was wrong; I never should have doubted you. I let Grisha influence my decision and in the end he made a bad one.”

“No.” I cut her off. “Don’t push this off on him, he may have believed that I was bad for your son but so did you. He didn’t force you to hate me, you chose to do that on your own. I know you Carla and I know that you’re too strong of a person to be swayed by other’s opinions.”

“You’re right. I’m very sorry for how I treated you. That’s why I’m calling; I want to prove to you that I do trust you. Would you like to babysit Eren tomorrow at 6?”

“Thanks for the offer but I decline.”

“What?” It’s obvious she wasn’t expecting that response based on the breathless gasp that resonated through the phone. “I was almost positive you would jump at the opportunity to see Eren again.”

I let out a chuckle. “That’s the thing; you don’t know me anymore. My life changed more than you know after Grisha slammed the door in my face. I was starting middle school at the time which turned out to be a bad few years for me; I was already an outcast in elementary school, things only got worse at middle school. People bullied me all the time while everyone else refused to talk to me. I only had one friend and you took him away from me! All because you were scared!” My whole body is shaking as I scream the last two sentences into the phone.

“I had no idea.” She whispers.

“No you didn’t. No one ever stops to ask how your life is going before they ruin it further. So I have to ask, why me? I’m sure you’re well aware that I turned nineteen this year and if I recall Eren should be fourteen. If you were scared of me when I was ten surely you won’t trust me when I’m nineteen.”

“I told you I realized I was wrong. I know you would never do anything to hurt my son and you’re a friend of the family so it doesn’t matter your age.”

I laugh again. “A friend of the family? A friend who was told to stay at home while his parents were invited over for dinner. A friend who wasn’t invited to Eren’s birthday parties. A friend who didn’t even get a card on his birthday.”

“I don’t know how many times I can apologize before you understand that I mean it.”

“Oh I do understand; you don’t. You ruined my life and no amount of pleading it going to fix that.”

“You really won’t babysit Eren then?”

“I really won’t. Now do me a favor and delete my number. Never call me again and don’t even think about asking my parents to relay a message. Goodbye Carla.” With that I hang up my phone before throwing it at the furthest wall.

Who the fuck does she think she is? I told Eren the last time I saw him that I would never do anything to hurt him and he believed me, why couldn’t his parents see that? Protecting him from me. Psh, what a bunch of bullshit. And then for her to wave Eren in front of my face like I’d forgive her in a heartbeat if I was promised to see him again. He’s probably just like them by now. Nine years, it’s been nine years since I’ve seen him; nine years they’ve had to corrupt him.

Shit. This is going to ruin my whole day. I cross to my bed, flop down face first and scream. I think it was better not knowing what I did wrong that night than this. I shut my eyes to scream again but see a flash of gold across my eyelids.

I’m not babysitting because I forgive Carla and Grisha, I’m babysitting because I care about Eren. I have to believe that he hasn’t become like them. However, the fondness he had for me nine years ago was pretty strong, I doubt you could destroy it entirely. There’s only one way to find out though, I have to babysit Eren tomorrow.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m standing on Eren’s front porch at 5:59 p.m. feeling extremely nervous for some odd reason. I don’t think it’s because of what I said to Carla, I don’t regret anything I said to her yesterday because all of it was true and needed to be said. Looking down at my new phone, the time changes to 6 and I knock on the door.

A minute or two pass and I begin to wonder if they’re even home. I lean back to look in the front window as the door opens. “Oh! Hello Levi.” Carla greets me with a smile.

“Do you still want me to babysit your brat?”

“I’m going out to dinner with my friends tonight, when you said you wouldn’t babysit I was forced to tell Eren he had to come with me. He hated the idea and is still complaining so yes I still want you to babysit and I bet he does too. Come on in.”

She tells me to wait in the living room as she calls up the stairs to her son. “Eren! Levi’s going to watch you tonight so you don’t have to go with me. I leaving now I’ll be home around 10. Love you.”

“Love you too mom.” My ears perk up at the sound of his voice, it’s not the same innocent childlike voice I remember but it’s not incredibly deep either. Eren calls those words out to his mother but doesn’t come downstairs to say goodbye to her or hello to me.

After thirty minutes Eren still hasn’t surfaced so I head to the bottom of the stairs like Carla did and call up to him. “Hey, its dinner time are you hungry?”

In an instant he is at the top of the stairs staring down at me. Eren’s grown so much, probably my height now meaning he’s going to be taller than me by the time he’s done growing. He’s thin but still muscular, tan and his hair is still a scruffy mess of dark brown.

“Why are you here?” Eren snaps, pulling me out of my analysis.

“Your mom asked me to watch you.”

“Why would she trust you? You’re a freak.” The edges of my vision blur as he spits that last word at me. They did get to him.

Fourteen is old enough to be on your own, I figure; I was on my own at ten when my parents left me at home to come over here for dinner. Without a word I turn on my heel and head to the front door.

“Levi!” My name is shrieked as I open the door to my car, I look up to find a wild-eyed Eren standing halfway down the sidewalk. “You can’t leave me here on my own.”

“You’re a big boy, you can take care of yourself.”

I move to get in the car as I hear Eren whimper. “I’m scared.” My mind flashes back to the last time I saw him, when he was scared to take the medicine.

My eyes lock with his as I climb in the car. Shutting my door I lean across the passenger seat to open that door. “Get in.”

He does what I say but questions it. “Why?”

Sigh. “Aren’t you hungry?” He nods. “We’re going to dinner.” Throwing the car in drive I pull away from the curb and make my way out of his neighborhood.

“I don’t have any money though.”

“That’s okay I’ve got it covered.” I assure him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have my mom pay you back.”

“I swear to God. I’m going to hit you in ten seconds. I’ve got it okay, I offered to take you so I don’t mind paying.” I turn to look at him as the light turns red and my eyes widen at what I see.

I hadn’t been this close to Eren yet. His eyes are green, like a bright emerald green. “What happened to your…eyes?”

His face immediately goes red and he runs a hand through his hair. “Oh umm I kind of wear contacts. The yellow was a bit weird right? I mean no one has yellow eyes.”

I turn away from him again as the light turns green again. “I didn’t think they were weird at all and I don’t think I would describe them as yellow. They were more golden than anything else, they were like the sun at dusk.”

In the silence that follows I turn back to Eren to see his face a brighter red than it was a minute ago. “Don’t say shit like that.”

“I’m sorry.” I snicker. “Did it upset you?”

“No…” In my peripheral vision I catch Eren turning to look out the window. “It’s just embarrassing.”

Normally I would push him a little further but I don’t feel like being cruel. “Is The Cheesecake Factory okay?”

His head snaps back to me like I surprised him. “What?”

“Focus. For dinner, is The Cheesecake Factory okay?”

“No. No it’s not; let’s go to McDonald’s or something.” Eren stumbles over his words.

“Ew no, we’re not going to McDonald’s. What do you have against The Cheesecake Factory? They have a wide variety and pretty high quality food.”

“It’s way too expensive. If you won’t let my mom pay you back then I don’t want to go somewhere that’s going to cost a lot.”

“If that’s the only thing stopping you from a good meal then that’s where we’re going. I told you I don’t mind paying, it doesn’t matter how much it costs; I’m okay with it.”

“But…” Eren starts to argue but stops himself, noticing that I’m pulling into the parking lot. “You were coming here all along weren’t you?”

“Yes, but I would have gone somewhere else if you had a valid reason for not wanting to come here.” I head inside with a grumbling Eren following close behind. “Table for two please.”

The hostess looks at me before her eyes flicker back to Eren. When her gaze returns to me she smiling. “Good for you.” I look back at Eren as we follow her to our table, he looks utterly confused by her comment but doesn’t say anything.

Once seated he makes sure the hostess is out of earshot before asking, “What did she mean ‘good for you’?”

I just grin and look down at my menu. “No idea.” I lie.

We sit in a comfortable silence until our food comes. “Why did you call me a freak earlier?” I ask before taking a sip of my tea.

Eren’s eyes look up from his food to meet mine, there’s sadness in them. “I didn’t mean it I swear. It’s just something my father always said about you; for a long time I would ask him what he meant by that but one day I just stopped asking.”

“I need to know how much you know about what happened Eren.” As I finish my sentence a shiver runs down Eren’s spine. “You cold?” I ask, starting to shrug off my jacket.

“No, I’m good.” His face is getting red again. “Umm as for how much I know, not a lot I guess is the answer. My parents never really told me anything about why you just up and decided you never wanted to see me again. The only thing I can figure is that I did something that you didn’t like but that doesn’t explain why my dad calls you a freak.”

“Have you been thinking I hated you for the past nine years?” He nods. I reach across the table and place my hand over his. “Eren, I never hated you. You never did anything to upset me. And it wasn’t my decision to not see you again, it was your parent’s decision. The last time I saw you, your dad called me a freak and kicked me out of your house before refusing to let me see you again.”

Eren’s looking at our hands, it feels wrong to move mine away now. “Why would my father call you that, I don’t understand.”

“How much do you remember? About me? About when I used to babysit you?”

“I don’t have any memories of situations or things like that, I think I was too young. But I remember…” He pulls his hand out from under mine and moves it to his lap. “I remember feelings and stuff.”

“Feelings?” I question getting worried he understands the situation more than I thought he did.

“Yeah, that’s not important though. They don’t mean anything. Can we talk about something else? Tell me about this job where you earn so much money you can take me out to The Cheesecake Factory.”

I let the ‘feelings’ topic drop because Eren’s obviously uncomfortable. For the rest of the meal and drive home we make small talk which I thought would bore me but it doesn’t. I honestly enjoy this kid’s company although the green eyes really are freaking me out, they look so abnormal.

We make it home around 9:30. “Can you go sit in the living room? I’ll be right back.” I nod before heading to the other room to make myself comfortable in the armchair I always used to sit in. “Close your eyes.” Eren orders me from the hallway.

“What’s this about Eren?” I ask before a slender hand snakes its way along my jaw.

My eyes start to flicker open. “Shh, its okay. Keep them closed just a few more seconds.” His voice is so close I can feel his breath on my face. Something about this reminds me of the first time I babysat Eren and he told me to close my eyes as he put the crown on my head.

A million thoughts rush into my mind as Eren presses his lips to mine in a chaste kiss. Of course my eyes snap open as he pulls away. I find a beautifully golden eyed Eren looking back at me. “Your eyes.” Is all I can muster, I can’t seem to collect my thoughts.

He snickers before bending down to kiss me again. “Wait!” I put both hands on his shoulders and hold him at arm’s length. “Why are you doing this?”

“Remember those feelings I mentioned.” Eren just shrugs then like the rest is obvious.

“Just because I have feelings for you Eren doesn’t mean you have to do this. In fact you really shouldn’t be doing this at all.”

His eyes light up but he takes a step back from me. “You have feelings for me?”

I must look dumbfounded because I feel it. “Isn’t that what you were talking about?”

“No, I didn’t remember any of the times you babysat me but one thought always came through. I loved you. When I told my parents my dad exploded saying ‘that freak’ had corrupted me, I didn’t understand what he meant but it didn’t stop my feelings which only made him angrier. He used to beat the shit out of me telling me to swear I wasn’t a faggot. My mom didn’t know it was happening and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her but one day she walked in on him beating me and that was the end of that. She kicked him out of our house and the next day filed for divorce.”

I’m just staring up at him with a knot in my stomach. “You’re only focusing on the bad part Levi, focus on the good. I’ve loved you since the day I met you and now I hear you have feelings for me too. This makes every day for the past nine years’ worth living.” His voice is soft as he crosses the distance between us again and leans down to press another kiss to my lips.

“Hey, I have a question. Was that your first kiss?” I ask as he pulls away.

Redness fills his face and he nuzzles into my neck. “Is it that obvious?”

“No.” I lie. “It’s sweet and delicate. I just have more experience so I’m much better.” I tease.

“Oh really?” Eren draws his face from my neck to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

I waste no time waiting for him to ready himself, he’s still standing in front of me so I place a hand on his thigh just under his ass and guide his knee to the chair. Eren takes the hint beautifully and moves to straddle my legs. I start slow, planting little kisses on his lips before forcing them apart and pushing my tongue in. “Ah…” Eren makes a slight sound of protest.

“You still okay?” I ask looking up at him. “You can tell me to stop at any time and I will.”

“God why would I want you to stop.” He pants.

That’s all I need to hear. I move a hand to his back to steady him as the other finds its way down to cup his ass. He purrs against my lips before tonguing me as I just did. I pull on his lip with my teeth before moving down to suck a spot on his neck. “Mmm…” Eren moans and his hand works its way into my hair.

I purposely suck the spot on Eren’s neck until it turns purple, for some reason I feel the need to mark him as mine. My mouth moves back up to his and our tongues roll together once more. “Say my name.” He whispers between kisses.

“Eren.” I pronounce those four letters slowly against his lips causing a shiver to go down his spine.

“Again.” Eren says breathlessly.

“Eren.” Another shiver runs through him as his hips jerk forward into my stomach.

His eyes snap open and stare at me with worry. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’ll try not to do it again.” Moving my hand down to where my other already rests on his ass, I pull him forward into me again.

“Don’t apologize if it’s what you want.”

“It is.” Eren whispers in my ear before he runs his tongue along the rim. Noticing he’s still tense and hasn’t moved his hips since, I rock mine up into him. He gasps with surprise.

“Okay?”

“Okay.” He says and tongues my ear. We sit in that chair, our bodies rocking together, tongues itching to find a safe portion of skin they haven’t touched yet as we ride out our erections together. Eren comes first then crumples into me and moves to rest his head on my shoulder.

I lift his leg and shift him so he’s sitting next to me with his legs over mine. “You’ve always had an obsession with me saying your name.” I whisper.

“Really?” He sounds exhausted and I can’t blame him; that was probably too much to handle the first time.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done so much with you. It was your first time, you should have been able to take it slow with someone your own age.”

Eren pecks a quick kiss on my cheek. “I don’t want anyone my age though. I only want one person and I just found out he wants me too.”

“You’re underage though.” I say realizing that I could go to jail for what I just did, not that I think Eren would say anything though.

He turns to me, beautiful eyes shimmering. “There’s this thing called ‘Romeo and Juliet Laws’, I read about it online, it says that if two people were together before one of them turned 18 then it’s not rape. So we’re good, you can’t go to jail because we were together before that.”

“I haven’t seen you in nine years, we weren’t really together before I turned 18.”

“The way I see it, I loved you when I was five and you cared about me too right?” I nod. “Then I consider us to have been together.”

I just smile, loving the way this kid thinks. “So in the nine years I didn’t see you, you looked up this ‘Romeo and Juliet’ law in case it became relevant.

He nods. “I love you Levi.”

“And I love you, my golden-eyed Eren.”

 


End file.
